Theme Of Loyalty In Julius Caesar

Improved Essays
The Absence of Loyalty in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar

Loyalty can typically be viewed in two ways; first, as faithfulness to commitments, obligations, or relationships, or secondly, as faithfulness to a government or leader. Both aspects of this term are showcased in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, although their display is not always obvious. People often tend to brush aside or disregard loyalty. Loyalty is frequently taken for granted and left unappreciated in facile relationships. In Julius Caesar, loyalty is often assumed to be present and active, which greatly contributes to the downfall of Caesar, Cassius, and Brutus, and their relationships with one another.

The most evident illustration of the absence
…show more content…
The entirety of the play revolves around Brutus’ infidelity and manipulation of his ties to Caesar. At first, Brutus tries to hide his underlying disobedience, as he showcases when he questions Cassius, “Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius, / That you would have me seek into myself / For that which is not in me?” (I.ii.65-67). Although he is always careful to remain stoic, Brutus’ internal conflict between his desire to protect Rome and his desire to remain faithful to Caesar is shown as he converses with Cassius. Eventually, the winner of the emotional civil war starts to prevail as Brutus worries, “What means this shouting? I do fear, the people / Choose Caesar for their king” (I.ii.81-82). Brutus can no longer deny his faltering loyalty to his best friend, Caesar; however, Caesar still …show more content…
While Antony is honoring and respecting Caesar, he subsequently tricks and manipulates Brutus and Cassius. Antony pretends to be on the conspirators’ side following Caesar’s death, when really he just wants to gain their trust enough to get approval on his eulogy. He manipulates them when he meets the still-bloody senators and falsely assures, “I doubt not of your wisdom” (III.i.187). Antony causes Brutus and Cassius to believe that there are no hard feelings and that he has proclaimed loyalty to the senators. Because of his proclamation, the conspirators grant Antony, who quickly becomes a masterful manipulator, a speech at Caesar’s funeral. He then deceives the conspirators and betrays their trust when he weeps to the plebians, “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me” (III.ii.104-105). When Antony declares this, he is swearing his never-ending loyalty to his beloved mentor and friend. Antony proves that it is not safe to assume that people will always be true to their word. If Brutus had been sensible enough to realize that Antony may not be completely loyal like he claims to be, Antony may not have been successful with his manipulation during the eulogy. Rarely is it a good idea to assume the best of people, no matter how much you want them to be speaking the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    According to Miguel de Cervantes, “Virtue is the truest nobility.” The play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is about the conspiracy against the title character, Julius Caesar, the Roman general, and its effect towards the Romans. Brutus, an important figure of the Roman Republic, leads the conspiracy with Cassius. Brutus is important to the conspiracy as he served as a poster child of it. Every decision Brutus makes parallels his honor and integrity even if it means opposing the rest of the conspirators.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the play, Julius Caesar, a man named Brutus is a military officer, respected by many. He is pulled back and forth to pick which side he will fight for in the plotting against Caesar. Brutus has a few friends who will help him along the way, but for the most part, his personality will drive him the most. Brutus cares most about others, his reputation, and his honor.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The men begin to plan their battle strategies, and this is where the audience is allowed a glimpse into the minds of the combatants. Brutus and Cassius continuously fight and are not organised in the least sense. Throughout the entirety of the play, the two could only agree on one thing. That Caesar meant the end of Rome and had to be destroyed. Afterwards, with no enemy to fight, the two turned on one another.…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A hero often displays a tragic flaw, a characteristic that brings about a downfall. A tragic hero is a person usually of noble birth, who suffers catastrophe. In the play,” The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” very much like other tragedies, this play had much suspense with the characters especially Brutus, and Cassius. Brutus contrasts very well with Cassius in this play. Cassius wanted to kill Caesar so he can gain the power which was for his own personal gain.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Antony, in his eulogy, presented himself as filled with grief and loss; however, a form of subliminal persuasion and manipulation is used to sway the Roman people in his favor. The loyal friend of Caesar appeared to be supportive of the conspirators, but his devotion to the true king never wavered. While he praised the conspirators for being “such honorable men”, Antony admitted how he grieved for his friend. He utilized paralipsis in his cajolery, stating that “I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke, / But here I am to speak what I do know.”…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the first act, there are two important conflicts. One of the main conflicts are that Cassius got Brutus to join his side for his own gain. Brutus is struggling with himself because he can’t persuade himself that he acted for the good of rome. The second main conflict is that there's currently no future leadership of Rome. Cassius wants all of the power, so he is trying to convince Brutus not to let Mark Antony speak at the funeral.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The inner disturbance the reader views is on one side Caesar is Brutus’s friend and he does not want him to die. The fondness he has for Caesar can be identified when the play states, “As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was valiant I honor him.” () The reader can see the affection Brutus has for Caesar as he conveys the lines above at the funeral. On the other side Brutus considers Caesar is bad for rome and needs to be killed to save the democracy that his forefather created. This confusion can be seen in the play when it reads, “Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brutus said, “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his.” (III.ii.18-20). This is the first incident where Shakespeare shows the internal conflicts of Brutus. Throughout the play, this…

    • 1235 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The play Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare is a tragic story of the downfall of the almighty, powerful ruler of Rome, Julius Caesar. A tragic hero is a character that makes a judgement error that leads to their own destruction. There are many other factors that determine whether a character is a tragic hero or not. Factors including: being of higher class, dying by the end of the literary work, and/or possessing a fatal flaw. The character Brutus is considered the tragic hero because he possesses a fatal flaw, he makes a judgement error that leads to his own destruction, and he experiences peripeteia.…

    • 1105 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Betray a friend, and often find thyself ruined.” In the story “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, Caesar’s best friend Brutus, is fighting an internal conflict with himself because he has to pick a side of either his best friend Julius Caesar’s side or Rome’s side. Brutus picks Rome’s side and kills Caesar for the good of Rome, later on in the story Brutus “kills himself” because his life got harder once he killed Caesar and people didn’t handle it anymore. Betrayal from a friend is worse than hatred from an enemy because, “Life is not about who’s real to one’s face, it’s about who’s real behind one’s back.”…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Antony states his direct purpose and asks for his audience’s attention outright, thus creating mutual respect through ethos by addressing his peers as equals. In addition, Antony appeals to the crowd’s emotions by mentioning Caesar’s will and how every citizen lies within in lines 132 and 133 of scene 2 in Act III. This employment of pathos riles up the audience and influences them to join his side, yet it also creates a leash with which Antony ties to the crowd to fulfill his agenda. Continuing, Antony leaves nothing to chance or opinion by focusing on the fact that he has no business in disproving Brutus’ words, but only to speak what he knows (III. ii. 100-101). Antony manipulates ethos in this instance to protect his integrity by addressing that his goal does not lie within feuding with another.…

    • 1018 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    These loyalties also cause actions related to and around the time of Caesar’s death. Finally, the senses of loyalty that Brutus and Antony pocess cause what happens after Caesar’s death. These senses of loyalty are a crucial part of the plot that get the conflict arising early on. Brutus’…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Latin word “noble” is defined as “having, showing, or coming from personal qualities that people admire such as honesty, generosity, courage...etc”(Webster 's Dictionary). In the 1800’s the word, “noble” was used in many books, speeches and other works of writing. Over time, the adjective “noble” is being used less and less in literature. Noble is commonly used to describe someone with high morals and great character. In the last lines of the play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, the character Mark Antony concludes about Brutus, “This was the noblest Roman of them all” (V.v. 74-81).…

    • 1147 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Antony has to slowly plant doubt and anxiety that perhaps Brutus was wrong; that although he is a good and honorable man, Brutus could have just murdered another good man, who was only doing good for Rome. Antony uses his words to manipulate the people’s minds much better than Brutus did. The people know that Antony was Caesar’s good friend and the good things he is saying about Caesar are credible. Since Antony is changing the crowd’s perspective about who Caesar was, his continuous good remarks about Brutus keep them from getting angry and…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    By using flattery, Antony is able to bring the Plebeians to his side through his speeches at Caesar’s funeral. First, “The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious… And Brutus is an honourable man” (III,ii,77-87). Antony constantly gives credit to the conspirators, especially Brutus. He repeatedly shows that the other speakers at Caesar’s funeral were honorable too.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays